Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55
स्वयमेकांबरात्क्षेत्रात्कृत्तिवासा इहागतः । कृत्तिवाससि लिंगेत्र स्वयमेव व्यवस्थितः
svayamekāṃbarātkṣetrātkṛttivāsā ihāgataḥ | kṛttivāsasi liṃgetra svayameva vyavasthitaḥ
ਕ੍ਰਿੱਤਿਵਾਸਾ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਆਪ ਹੀ ਏਕਾਂਬਰ ਦੇ ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਖੇਤਰ ਤੋਂ ਇੱਥੇ ਆਏ; ਅਤੇ ਕ੍ਰਿੱਤਿਵਾਸ ਦੇ ਇਸ ਲਿੰਗ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹ ਆਪਣੀ ਹੀ ਇੱਛਾ ਨਾਲ ਸਥਾਪਿਤ ਹਨ।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kṛttivāsa-liṅga (in Rudrasthalī/Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Śiva as Kṛttivāsa—wearing a skin garment—journeys mystically from Ekāmbara-kṣetra to Kāśī and becomes present as a liṅga; the liṅga radiates as if freshly manifested, with no human hands installing it.
FAQs
The holiness of Kāśī is reinforced through a self-manifestation motif: Śiva chooses to abide there in a specific liṅga form.
The Kṛttivāsa Liṅga in Kāśī, with a link to Ekāmbara Kṣetra as a point of origin.
No explicit ritual; the verse provides a sacred provenance for the liṅga to inspire pilgrimage and worship.